I get a newsletter from the Boston Globe called Fast Forward. Today Teresa Hanafin the author of the newsletter included this amazing article about the achievements of our VP Kamala Harris and what she is doing in Central America. I couldn’t find a link so I copied it and want to share it. I think it is incredible stuff she is doing that we haven’t heard anything about. She has been busy and I hope somebody will pick up on it and start publicizing it. Here it is:
VP Kamala Harris was given the job of finding ways to stem the wave of migrants coming to our southern border -- desperate residents of Central America escaping poverty, gang violence, crime, corrupt governments, even natural disasters that those corrupt politicians are ill-equipped to handle -- if they wanted to.
I've wondered for awhile now what she's been doing about the problem. Turns out it's a lot.
She focused on El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala, the sources of most of the migrants seeking help in the US. And her philosophy was simple: If people have jobs and feel safe, they won't leave their home.
In 2021, she started meeting in person and virtually with the presidents and other officials of those countries. At the same time, she began pressuring US companies to step up.
In the first phase, she secured $750 million in industry commitments over the next decade.
For example, Nespresso agreed to buy coffee beans from more growers in Guatemala and look for farmers expand its outreach to Honduras and El Salvador.
Microsoft started wiring 2 million households in Honduras for internet access and is building networks in schools and Indigenous communities.
Mastercard said it would teach 1 million micro and small businesses how to incorporate electronic payment systems and 5 million consumers how to use them.
There are plans to create jobs programs, train law enforcement, provide counseling and other support for victims of rape and domestic violence, even help people set up fish farms.
At the end of 2021, she announced another $540 million in private investments in Central America.
PepsiCo agreed to spend $190 million on upgrading its manufacturing plants and expanding its distribution routes -- and hiring more people. Cargill and Parkdale Mills are spending $150 million on agricultural and manufacturing projects.
Microsoft had already committed to providing internet access to 3 million people; it increased that to 4 million and said it would teach 100,000 people essential digital skills.
Last June (2022), Harris scored another big haul: Another $2 billion in private investments, this time from 10 companies.
The clothing company Gap, which already buys enough clothing from the region to support 8,200 manufacturing jobs, promised to buy more to support another 5,000 jobs. SanMar, an apparel wholesaler, will create 4,000 more jobs. Yarn maker Unifi will increase production in El Salvador by 40 percent. Telecommunications giant Millicom will spend $700 million to expand mobile and broadband networks.
Harris didn't solicit just US companies. She also hit up some of our allies, and has already raised hundreds of millions dollars from the governments of Ireland, Finland, Japan, and South Korea.
Meanwhile, she created a women's empowerment program with the goal of connecting 1.4 million women to the financial system and the digital economy as well as provide job training for 500,000 women and girls. She also set up a Central American Service Corps using $50 million from the US Agency for International Development so that youth in the region can do community service -- and get paid for it.
Are any of Harris' efforts working to stem the tide of migrants? It's too early to tell. One huge challenge has been the endemic corruption that exists. The election of leftist Xiomara Castro as president of Honduras, the first woman to hold that position, was viewed hopefully because of her strong pledges to combat corruption and improve the lives of women. However, her first year in office has been a mixed bag.
Nonetheless, Harris has made a lot of progress in trying to mitigate the root causes of migration. I just have one question: Why haven't we heard more about it?